Jelsa

It took me a long time to pack my stuff and get ready for the ride this morning, probably also because I had coffee with Jens and Mimi and chatted with other neighbours that were curious about my trip.😅 I also wasn't keen on the ride from Trogir to Split via the mainland, there's just an aweful amount of traffic on the main road and as soon as I would go off it (like I did with Mali), road conditions would be terrible. 😅 So instead I took a different route along the coast of the island and a ferry to Split. When arriving at the ferry harbour in Slatine, only few people and two bikers from Italy were waiting already. I wasn't sure whether it was possible to take the bike on the ferry, neither were the Italians. More and more people arrived and we got a little worried. 😅 But it turned out to be fine, it was just ridiculously crowded and certainly overloaded. 😀 On the pier in Split a French couple with two children (maybe around 4 and 5) approached me, asking where I'm going. Turns out they are also bikepackers on a sabbatical who travel with their kids on tandems for a year. 😅 We exchanged numbers and I might see them again in Albania. 😊
Arriving in Split around 1pm I went straight for decathlon since I needed some chain oil and a new drinking bottle. After that, I booked a ferry ticket to Stari Grad on Hvar island (5pm departure, no earlier one available) at the terminal and had around two hours left to stroll around Split while phoning with a friend. It's a nice city but also pretty crowded. The ferry ride to Stari Grad took around 1.5 hours, it was raining during the drive and gotten a little cold, so I stayed inside and read while charging my phone. It was also about to get dark when I arrived at 6:30pm but I wanted to get to Jelsa (around 10km away) still since there were lots of campgrounds there. For the first time, I had to put my lights on for cycling. I thought about wild camping, there were many potential spots but it was already a little too late and dark to be sure about the spot. The route I planned on taking going past barking street dogs that were running around, so I decided to stay on the main road (more elevation..😑).
When I arrived at the camp the reception was closed already. So I asked a woman camping nearby and she said to just set up the tent anyways and tell them in the morning, which I did. It was luckily no problem at all. 😊 I showered and finally cooked some dinner before going to bed, I was really starving. 😅Read more